Presence
Content admonition : Some discussion of intimate assault
Steven Soderbergh ’s literary genre - stoop supernatural thrillerPresenceprovides an data-based feel at a haunted mansion from the perspective of the ghost doing the haunting , culminating with a shocking reveal of the ghost ’s unfeigned nature . Now playing in theater , Presencechronicles a family ’s move into a young house through the oculus of a secret entity that is already in the house when they move in . It ’s revealed thateach key lineament in Presence ’s castis deal out with their own sources of anxiousness , specially the girl , Chloe ( Callina Liang ) , who is administer with the late overdose deaths of two of her ally .
The entity ’s noise in the house escalates as more information is bring out about each member of the syndicate , but the entity is revealed to be protective over Chloe in particular . Chloe eventually begin a relationship in secret with Ryan , her brother Tyler ’s champion and on the face of it one of the democratic jock in the schooltime territory . Ryan ’s motives are revealed to be nefarious , as he attempts to drug Chloe in her way ( to sexually assault her , as it ’s implied ) before the entity knocks her drugged beverage onto the floor .
The tenseness in the business firm ramp up until parents Rebekah and Chris pass on for the weekend on a work trip , which prompts Chloe to invite Ryan over to stay the Nox . Ryan drug her brother Tyler so that he and Chloe can have uninterrupted time together , and that ’s when the terror truly begins . Ryan convert Chloe to drink a drugged glass of alcohol to facilitate her unbend , and his true motivations are finally break , leading to a stunning and climactic confrontation with the entity in the mansion before its identity is finally revealed .
Without relying on tinny jump panic attack , Soderberg ’s psychological thriller is a shatter mystery story about inherent aptitude that will institutionalize chills down your spine .
The Ghost’s Identity In Presence Fully Explained
There Were Slight Clues Before The Shocking Final Reveal
In the last scene of the movie , Rebekah ( Lucy Liu ) have a instant to herself in the house after the family has packed everything forth as they move out , and finally becomes cognisant of the entity . She follow it into the bread and butter room and suffer in front of the antique silver medal mirror , wherethe entity is revealed to be her son Tyler ( Eddy Maday ) , who had die tackling Ryan ( West Mulholland ) out of the second - floor windowin the process of preserve his sister ’s life . Rebekah hollo in anguish and heartbreak and falls to the soil , shout out that he " came back to save her . "
While Chloe believed the ghost to be the spirit of her dead friend Nadia , it ’s implied that it was in fact Tyler the intact meter . The medium , Lisa , provides some measure of explanation when she first visits the house , as she and her husband note that in her experience as a person with " 2d sight",ghosts or entities like the one in the houseoften do n’t have any knowledge of who they are , why they manifested , or what time period they are in .
Presence - Key Details
Custom image by Yailin Chacon
Director
Runtime
Release Date
NEON
Budget
RT Tomatometer Score
Metacritic Score
NEON
Steven Soderbergh
85 arcminute
1/24/2025
Neon
$ 2 million
89 %
78 %
Neon
They can be displaced in time , and Lisa later note that the ghost appear to be present because of something that has not yet happened , but is total . She also notes that it has to do with a windowpane , but can provide no other brainstorm . When the spectre urgently wake the drugged Tyler at the end ofPresence , it ’s incriminate that is when it first became cognizant of its own purpose and identity , and knew thatTyler needed to go so that the ghost could be created to wake him .
It ’s a mind - melt paradox that ’s only fully understandable once the audienceknows the touch ’s personal identity . Upon a second coup d’oeil , there are clues throughout about the ghost ’s identity , most notably its protectiveness over Chloeand the fact that it angrily demolish Tyler ’s way when he ’s regaling the syndicate with his cruel prank on his classmate Simone . The trace is a guilty variant of Tyler himself , tethered only to the emotion and connections from his mortal life ; he feel angry at himself for his pitilessness , and he feels protective over his babe due to how distant and mean he was to her .
Presence’s Serial Killer Twist Explained
The Real Evil Was Never The Ghost
Tyler ’s friend Ryan follow across as suspicious from his first unveiling , and when his motivations are first revealed ( when he drugs Chloe ’s drink in her room ) , he looks like a sick individual who habitually sexually lash out girl , given how use and set up he is in drugging Chloe . Sharp audience members can pick up onthe connection between Ryan drug Chloe and the drug overdoses of her friends . However , when he at last come after in drugging both Ryan and Chloe , his true nature is reveal .
Upon its original debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024 , some audience members reportedly walked out due the movie ’s intensity , citing the level of stress it induced as the understanding .
Ryan was more than indirectly involved in the death of Chloe ’s two friend ; on the contrary , their dying were really slaying at his hand . Ryan is expose to be a serial killer who drugged both young woman before smothering them in their come about - out state . To a medical examiner , it look as if the girls ' breather had make out as a result of the drugs interacting with their systems , which is why he was able-bodied to get away with it . He attempts to do the very same to Chloe before Tyler ’s ghostwriter wake his material conformation to save her spirit and kill Ryan .
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How Tyler’s Ghost Is Around Before He Dies
The Medium Lisa Provides A Brief Explanation
As someone who has had a psychic talent for her integral life , Lisa describes some general notes from her experiences with entities when Chris ( Chris Sullivan ) invites her into the plate for the first time . She claim that the ghost may not even be aware of who or what it is , or when in time it is located . They can be from the past times , present , or future , and have a purpose that they may not be entirely cognizant of . In the case of Tyler , the ghost is his future dead ego sent back in time to populate the menage to protect his sister from Ryan .
The metaphysical paradox of a ghost basically act as to ensure its own future creation is never examine in any particular depth , and it ’s not mean to be . The period is not the pseudo - scientific discipline behind the trace ’s extraction , but rather the potency of Tyler ’s guilt and require to atone for the cruelty he had wrought both on his sister and others . The actual time travel mechanics do n’t need to be explain . In fact , Tyler ’s spook can be figure as a manifestation of his guilt and regret , so it ’s as if two versions of himself exist at the same time .
Why Each Member Of The Family Is So Tense
Each Person Has Their Own Source Of Stress
Because the narrative is secernate in broken fragments , there are a lot of cue about tale and quality detail , but the full picture is rarely revealed for anything . Each member of the family has their own particular stressor , which is why the tension in the house is so high at all times . Rebekah is involve with something illegal at work ; it ’s potential role player or embezzlement , as she is excited to shut on the business firm and drunkenly explains to Tyler that you’re able to " go too far for the one you love . "
Chris is aware of his wife ’s illicit action , and appear near to terminate their marriage , as indicated by his call for effectual advice about a better half ’s culpableness in their partner ’s legal troubles . Selfish and cruel , Tyler is mostly interested with his own societal standing , and how his babe ’s grief and odd demeanour bear upon that . Chloe is still dealing with the grief of losing her best friend , which make her to become call in and isolate , an additional root of worry for Chris . Add all that up , and the phratry is at a simmering pointedness when they move into the obsessed house .
What Steven Soderbergh Has Said About Presence’s Ending
The Director Provided Some Insight Into The Twist
With such a unequaled mode of filmmaking and tv camera perspective , insight from director Steven Soderbergh is particularly valuable when it come to expose downPresence . In an audience withRue Morgue , Soderbergh speak about how difficult it is to in reality placePresencewithin a dandy genre line , because the movie and ending do n’t needfully provide the scare that one would typically associate with straight horror .
To me , it ’s a drama that happen to use a ghost as the Trojan horse to show you a portraiture of this kinsperson in distress . I did n’t go into it thinking I wanted to make a movie in that genre ; to me , this seemed to be an interesting way to show a family coming apart .
In that horse sense , Presenceis more of a family drama than a horror film . With that said , Soderbergh also took note ofthe palpable dread wrought by that nonadaptive family dynamic , and how much more powerful it ca-ca the moving picture ’s ending .
It ’s kind of a disaster , in a way , because the mother feels so close to her boy that she ’s really not paying attention to what ’s pass off with her girl . And it ’s absolved , too soon on in the pic , that the mien is very focused on Chloe , and is very protective of her , and part of the dread that starts to construct as the movie snuff it on is your apprehension that something bad is drop dead to come about , and it ’s probably going to happen to her .
Even thoughPresencedoes not extend the kind of lucidity that allows it to be place into bully genre dividing line , that fusion of class dramatic event and supernatural premonition is really what brings it into the realm of repulsion . The themes explored by the narrative sure as shooting align with those typically discover in horror movies , as do the shocking reveals about both Ryan and the shade ’s individuality . Horror elements can be found throughout the movie , even if they are n’t completely overt .
The Real Meaning Of Presence’s Ending
The Movie Is Rife With Themes Of Trauma, Grief, And Love
At its core , Presenceis an interrogatory of the persistence of injury and grief , and the far - reaching shock of how they are deal with . Chloe ’s sensitivity to the spook is prompt because she has known real harm with the death of her friend Nadia . The rest of her family is n’t as in melodic line until they see strong-arm damage being done by the ghost . Rebekah finally being able-bodied to see Tyler at the destruction also relates back to what Lisa severalize them about ghost in the first place : Rebekah eventually experienced real trauma from Tyler ’s death , so she can see it .
Rebekah finish the movie consumed by heartbreak , her reward for remaining distant from Chloe when she most involve her .
Conversely , Presencealso emphasizesthe importance of loving and reaching out to those who are going through something difficult , and how that can sometimes be the only affair that can truly convey peace . Tyler ’s ghostwriter come up to the sky at the ending of the picture show implies that his soul is at rest , and Chloe has some colour of peace from knowing what really bump to her friends , and knowing the soul responsible ca n’t hurt her or anyone else . Rebekah ends the movie consumed by sorrow , her reward for remaining remote from Chloe when she most needed her .
Source : Rue Morgue
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